Since handing Alan Pardew a ridiculous 8-year contract, Newcastle United's fortunes have suffered a horrendous run of form, and with eleven defeats in the last fifteen games, Pardew's team are now languishing in 16th place in the league, only two poins off the relegation zone. To add insult to injury, France winder Hatem Ben Arfa seemingly wants to abandon ship, and last night, he made a crass public demand to leave St. James Park.
In an interview with BeIn Sport, Ben Arfa - who cost Newcastle £6m - dispensed with any kind of subtlety and seemingly made the the following 'come and get me plea':
"I am interested in Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. Today, these clubs are above Newcastle. My goal is to stay in England"
Well, you don't get more blatant than that! Liverpool have been linked with Ben Arfa several times in the past, and although his comment is classless in the extreme (just imagine if, say, Downing or Henderson said something similar), there would seem to be an opportunity here for Liverpool to capitalise on Newcastle's precarious position.
A hamstring injury has kept Ben Arfa out of the team since early December but he is due back next month, and before he leaves for a new club, his main goal is to try and save Newcastle from relegation. He told The Daily Mail:
"First [before leaving], I must save my club. I only think of that. I will help my team and my coach, with whom I get along great. We really want to fight for him. The fans are great too"
Obviously, Ben Arfa is injured right now so a January move might not be the best idea, but generally, is he a player Liverpool should pursue?
Jaimie Kanwar
In an interview with BeIn Sport, Ben Arfa - who cost Newcastle £6m - dispensed with any kind of subtlety and seemingly made the the following 'come and get me plea':
"I am interested in Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool. Today, these clubs are above Newcastle. My goal is to stay in England"
Well, you don't get more blatant than that! Liverpool have been linked with Ben Arfa several times in the past, and although his comment is classless in the extreme (just imagine if, say, Downing or Henderson said something similar), there would seem to be an opportunity here for Liverpool to capitalise on Newcastle's precarious position.
A hamstring injury has kept Ben Arfa out of the team since early December but he is due back next month, and before he leaves for a new club, his main goal is to try and save Newcastle from relegation. He told The Daily Mail:
"First [before leaving], I must save my club. I only think of that. I will help my team and my coach, with whom I get along great. We really want to fight for him. The fans are great too"
Obviously, Ben Arfa is injured right now so a January move might not be the best idea, but generally, is he a player Liverpool should pursue?
Jaimie Kanwar
hahaha sorry i couldnt concentrate after being reminded of the 8 year contract.
ReplyDeleteCLASSIC
But yes its a no from me, i dont think he'd be worth bringing in
ReplyDeleteJaimie,
ReplyDeleteAs i understand it he wants to go to PSG if we could dump Carroll at Newcastle and raid Arfa that would be a good swap deal.
Wouldn't want to pay for him though
sorry but translation is wrong, he said he found english football interesting and listed some teams, that's all
ReplyDeleteYes! Get him, he is the kind of player we need, creative and skillful something we lack a lot! Already adapted to the PL as well.
ReplyDeleteMercenary leave him where he is, We need players who are interested in playing for the shirt 1st and the paycheck second.
ReplyDeletei agree that he is creative and skillful but its not a consistent creative and skillful, and if im not mistaken he's only played like 40-50 gaes in 3 years (im not positive so dont rip my head off on the games to years lol)
ReplyDeletei personally wouldnt waste the money
Yeah cos you scousers have no history with ridiculous business decisions. How much did u pay us for Carroll? The mackems for Henderson? I could go on. CLASSIC
ReplyDeleteand the carroll money paid for the 8 year deal i suppose.
ReplyDeleteNo way Newcastle would let him move for £8m with the silly prices going around at present. He is worth much more if he can stay fit and if he can't why have him
ReplyDeleteGive them Carroll back for Ben Arfa plus 20m and the deal is on.
ReplyDeleteHaha, the quotes are twisted, he didn't say he was interested in Chelsea, arsenal or Liverpool, he only said Newcastle belong in the top half with the likes of them......
ReplyDeleteLooks a great dribbler and creative, but with only 8 goals in 39 games for Newcastle, I'm not convinced he's prolific enough. LFC desperately need forwards who can score- Kuyt always got 10-15 per season, and thats what we should be aiming for as a minimum from our forwards.
ReplyDeletestart the biding around 30 mil and make sure all the cash is up front
ReplyDeletewhat a load of bollox this article is! he never said that at all.
ReplyDeleteHe's a damn good player!
ReplyDeleteGood player no doubt, but I wouldn't want someone at the club who wanted to 'jump ship'. Today Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool are ahead of Newcastle but last season, (or yesterday) they weren't. Suck it up Ben Arfa.
ReplyDeleteTrue, but im just thinking from the point of view that.
ReplyDelete1 He has said he is interested.
2 We cant attract as many top players at the moment
3 He plays in the PL already so knows it well
4 He should be pretty cheap
Carroll and 5 million because you know he won't turn you down for QPR lol.
ReplyDeletewe must have him, he is class midfielder
ReplyDeleteHands off in January, my jolly scouse cousins. We'll need him. However, if he's got itchy feet, take him in the summer, we need players who want to be here.
ReplyDeleteGood player but doesn't he spend a lot of time injured? Unless he does a van persie.
ReplyDeletenot for me no better than what we have already got,jaimie whats up with discuss not working again
ReplyDeleteThe carroll money was just covered the 1st 6 years, the 7 mill from chelsea for Demba Ba will cover the rest. YNWA
ReplyDeleteon another subject looks like we are going to lose out on yet another transfer target{vegeem}whilst fsg faff about other clubs do buisness
ReplyDeleteId rather see adel taraabt than ben arfa which is prone to injury.
ReplyDeleteahahaha you silly cunts.... 30-40 million from you muggy scousers please... and you can keep that fucking 35 million pound donkey ahahahaha, 8 year deals funny, 35 million for Andy Carroll is hillarious ahahahahaha
ReplyDeleteGood player and worth bidding for, but doesn't seem very loyal.
ReplyDeleteJust read the same thing. apparently he's going to reject the trial and sign for them. As ive never seen the player play all i can say is oh well!
ReplyDeletenext name on the list please
can you blame him other premiershipclubs want to sign him trials are for younger players we are losing the plot
ReplyDeletenon-starter. we can't afford anyone, we can't attract anyone.
ReplyDeleteWould f#cking love it if LFC manage to snatch him up. Forget about Tom Ince and use the money towards this guy or do a swap deal with Andy Donkey Boy Carroll.
ReplyDeleteWouldn't go near him. The only players that i would consider welcoming to the club is Cabaye and Santon. Especially Santon he will be a quality player.
ReplyDeleteEven though he said he is interested in Liverpool?? How is that not attracting anyone?
ReplyDeleteSwap for Carrol would be good too!
Bit of a fiasco again m8, were world class at these!
ReplyDeleteLol, you tryin to pull our pants down again?
ReplyDeleteBit rich comin from a magpie fan
ReplyDeletei cannot believe how public we make our transfer targets ,before we have signed players its a bit like a soap opera a load of fuss about nothing
ReplyDeleteIf we could get him for cheap I can't see why not to be honest. He adds something different to our team in his style of wing play and hes proven in the league. Cant hurt the depth of our squad. If we can keep him injury free I think we should sign him.
ReplyDeleteYou won't find them in the professional leagues mate - you're fooling yourself if you believe any senior player is at LFC simply for their love of the club
ReplyDeleteI always thought that he had been picked up on a free.
ReplyDeleteEitherways, it was another example of a player being picked up for much less than he was worth, because of perceived off field issues.
Ben Arfa is a quality player, though not the type we're in particular need of atm. Unless Rodgers refuses to play Gerrard/Suso as our AM, at which point Ben Arfa is a MASSIVE short term AND long term upgrade over Shelvey/Henderson/Allen
Wow Newcastle are in big trouble, same old then.........ha ha ha
ReplyDeleteWhen I heard that Pardew got offered an 8 contract I laughed so hard that my friend had to slap me to make me stop! (exaggerating).
ReplyDeleteBut really it just shows how much Mike Ashley knows about football and it's dynamics. Where have you heard of a club giving their manager an 8year contract? I mean really?
No doubt Newcastle have a good squad but a 3-4 year deal would have sufficed easily. Mike Ashley clearly just got carried way with how things were going last season.
Ben Arfa is a good player and I was surprised that Lyon sold him to Marseille and they sold him to Newcastle. But his injuries recently is worrying though.
Nevertheless he is a good player.
I'm still hoping we will bring 2 more signings. The Ince deal seems dead and the Sneijder deal maybe next existed lol!
PS drop Allen for next game. That is all.
Yes yes!! Agreed Jay! Would prefer Ben Arfa than any of those 3 any day of the week.
ReplyDeletePlus Shelvey is way to overrated by BR.
ReplyDeleteHmmmm... A Carroll swap with Ben Arfa...Yes please!
ReplyDeleteAmen to this. If Liverpool stopped paying Gerrard's wages we would see how long he would stick around for.
ReplyDeleteThere is no loyalty when it comes to football money.
Potential signings this window is becoming a tiresome topic.. Buck has insisted no more senior players. FSG's budget has maxed.
ReplyDeletewe didnt lose out on him, we mearly offerd the kid a weeks trial to see if he is good enough but then southhamton made a £4m bid we wernt going to match. would you prefare we went in blind and wasted £4m on a bench warmer, i think BR has more targets ahead of forren.
ReplyDeletehes an international for norway you do not ask senior players to come on trial,and hes no kid,and dont talk to me about rodgers wasting money on bench warmers half of his signings don,t even make the bench
ReplyDeleteThem blue noses must be laughing their heads off..Southampton! need I say more??
ReplyDeleteWe are fast becoming a joke. The Muppets are running our once great club again. I hate to say it but we may have to get used to be hanging on to the coat tails of Everton, for the next few years at least. God that hurt!
ReplyDeletei have to agree...i thought giving an international a trial was strange...do we not have scouts...have we not watched the guy.....pitty we didnt give allen a trial he wouldnt have made it out of the changing rooms
ReplyDeleteI think Ben Arfa would be a great signing for Liverpool and they should grab him if they can. But wait Brendan's project . Only he knows who will fit into his style of play , or does he really even know .
ReplyDeleteAnyway before we laugh at anyone or Newcastle for the 8 year deal for Pardew. Think about Liverpool's diabolical decisions and they multiply
Carrol 35 Mil
Allen 15 Mil
Borini 10 Mil
Downing ...... etc etc etc
I wouldn't be surprised if he has a release clause.
ReplyDeleteIt because us Scousers need our fix of soap opera goodness. If they would just bring back Brookside all would be well again.
ReplyDeleteThese arent all Liverpool's transfer targets. Journalist wakes up in the morning . Oops had a heavy night last night , no work done .
ReplyDeleteLets see who I can link to Liverpool , Arsenal , Man C etc . Not only are the supposed clubs involved surprised when they read the article but so is the juornalist himself .
YEs Ben afra and MVilla
ReplyDeleteDowning for £20m is the worst of any of our recent signings imo.
ReplyDeleteAt least there was something about Carroll to suggest he might become a dominant player at some point, if all went to plan. Downing was clearly never going to be anything more than a mediocre winger.
Jamie, really think you need to check your sources, Ben Arfa did the 30 minute interview in French, nowhere did he actually say I want to join LFC, the interviewer asked a theoretical question and Ben Arfa said if he was asked he would consider it, same for Chelsea and Arsenal. the question asked was as follows - We are in the middle of the transfer window, we spoke earlier that if there was a proposition from PSG you would consider it, what about if I mention a few clubs to you and you tell me if yes.
ReplyDeleteLFC was just one of the clubs. Everything has to be taken in context and a full interpretation of the interview provided, not just snippets from other media outlets.
Also the interviewer asked -
These clubs are above Newcastle and do you feel they could make you progress in order to regain your place in the French team?HBA Yes, today they are above that’s true but if we have good recruitment we can rejoin them.
I don't see what your point is. He was asked if would consider moving to LFC, chelsea etc, and he said yes.
ReplyDeleteAdditionally, nowhere have I stated that Ben Arfa said 'I want to join LFC'. The actual quote is 'I am interested in Liverpool, Chelsea etc', and that is in the article.
Whether it's theoretical or not is irrelevant. The answer to a theoretical question is still a valid answer.
Yess...He is good skill dribbling the ball but always sitting in the bench get injured.The fee must bargain please.
ReplyDeletei dont know it like we have terry ,barry and sinbad runnuin the club lol
ReplyDeletei know that but the ones we are interested in are public knowledge as well ,ince,sturridge ,allen and dempsey ect
ReplyDeleteor rodgers or fsg they should have a criminal trial,on attempted murder of a football club
ReplyDeleteFair points. i never said loyalty though as we all know that commodity is as rare as a honest politician what about playing for the shirt because your ambitious. professional pride maybe?
ReplyDeleteSorry league position please? Get the parachute out my magpie friend.
ReplyDeleteMay be just FSF for now.
ReplyDeleteYou say he wants and I quote "Exciting £6 million Attacker Wants Anfield Move" did you not, which implies he indicated he wants to join LFC, ,the keyword here is Wants..If your headline is mean't as a question rather than a statement maybe there is a ? missing.
ReplyDeletethe point is he does not say he wants to go to LFC, he would merely consider them along with a host of other teams, just like any other player would, you separate the LFC part and then write an article based on that one point which is taken out of all context, "considering" is not the same as "Wants" therefore your headline of "Wants Anfield Move" is incorrect. If it was the other way round and I put your same argument forwards as you use, you would laugh me off the forum. you have missed crucial information in your article in order to purposely mislead your readers and you know you have. Maybe the issue is with regards to what you don't write rather than with what you do write.The club he really wants to play for is PSG (another bit of crucial info not mentioned), above all other clubs, this alone could have a bearing on how people would view him as an addition, we have heard many times the mercenary term used, yet you fail to give all the facts and still expect folks to give an opinion. Using the word "interested" for article impact value is also not true, he is not interested in joining LFC. You would need to employ an interpreter, so you can actually understand what was said, unless of course you speak fluent French and actually watched the interview of course.
Daily Mail got this from BeinSport in France, and what you quote is not what he says in the interview... very very very distorted truth.
ReplyDeleteJamie I would say your headline is misleading , wouldn't you ?
ReplyDelete